Maximum likelihood analysis of multi-stress accelerated life test data of series systems with competing log-normal causes of failure

This article presents frequentist inference of accelerated life test data of series systems with independent log-normal component lifetimes. The means of the component log-lifetimes are assumed to depend on the stress variables through a linear stress translation function that can accommodate the standard stress translation functions in the literature. An expectation-maximization algorithm is developed to obtain the maximum likelihood estimates of model parameters. The maximum likelihood estimates are then further refined by bootstrap, which is also used to infer about the component and system reliability metrics at usage stresses. The developed methodology is illustrated by analyzing a real as well as a simulated dataset. A simulation study is also carried out to judge the effectiveness of the bootstrap. It is found that in this model, application of bootstrap results in significant improvement over the simple maximum likelihood estimates.

ANRC Hybrid Test Bed Implementation and an End-to-End Performance Characterization of Dynamic Spectrum Access

An abundance of spectrum access and sensing algorithms are available in the dynamic spectrum access (DSA) and cognitive radio (CR) literature. Often, however, the functionality and performance of such algorithms are validated against theoretical calculations using only simulations. Both the theoretical calculations and simulations come with their attendant sets of assumptions. For instance, designers of dynamic spectrum access algorithms often take spectrum sensing and rendezvous mechanisms between transmitter-receiver pairs for granted. Test bed designers, on the other hand, either customize so much of their design that it becomes difficult to replicate using commercial off the shelf (COTS) components or restrict themselves to simulation, emulation /hardware-in-Ioop (HIL), or pure hardware but not all three. Implementation studies on test beds sophisticated enough to combine the three aforementioned aspects, but at the same time can also be put together using COTS hardware and software packages are rare. In this paper we describe i) the implementation of a hybrid test bed using a previously proposed hardware agnostic system architecture ii) the implementation of DSA on this test bed, and iii) the realistic hardware and software-constrained performance of DSA. Snapshot energy detector (ED) and Cumulative Summation (CUSUM), a sequential change detection algorithm, are available for spectrum sensing and a two-way handshake mechanism in a dedicated control channel facilitates transmitter-receiver rendezvous.

Thermal test method for high power three-phase grid-connected inverters

Semiconductor device junction temperatures are maintained within datasheet specified limits to avoid failure in power converters. Burn-in tests are used to ensure this. In inverters, thermal time constants can be large and burn-in tests are required to be performed over long durations of time. At higher power levels, besides increased production cost, the testing requires sources and loads that can handle high power. In this study, a novel method to test a high power three-phase grid-connected inverter is proposed. The method eliminates the need for high power sources and loads. Only energy corresponding to the losses is consumed. The test is done by circulating rated current within the three legs of the inverter. All the phase legs being loaded, the method can be used to test the inverter in both cases of a common or independent cooling arrangement for the inverter phase legs. Further, the method can be used with different inverter configurations - three- or four-wire and for different pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques. The method has been experimentally validated on a 24 kVA inverter for a four-wire configuration that uses sine-triangle PWM and a three-wire configuration that uses conventional space vector PWM.

DESIGN OF AN EXPERIMENTAL TEST FACILITY FOR SUPERCRITICAL CO2 BRAYTON CYCLE

A supercritical CO2 test facility is currently being developed at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India to analyze the performance of a closed loop Brayton cycle for concentrated solar power (CSP) generation. The loop has been designed for an external heat input of 20 kW a pressure range of 75-135 bar, flow rate of 11 kg/min, and a maximum cycle temperature of 525 degrees C. The operation of the loop and the various parametric tests planned to be performed are discussed in this paper The paper addresses various aspects of the loop design with emphasis on design of various components such as regenerator and expansion device. The regenerator design is critical due to sharp property variations in CO2 occurring during the heat exchange process between the hot and cold streams. Two types of heat exchanger configurations 1) tube-in-tube (TITHE) and 2) printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) are analyzed and compared. A PCHE is found to be similar to 5 times compact compared to a TITHE for identical heat transfer and pressure drops. The expansion device is being custom designed to achieve the desired pressure drop for a range of operating temperatures. It is found that capillary of 5.5 mm inner diameter and similar to 2 meter length is sufficient to achieve a pressure drop from 130 to 75 bar at a maximum cycle temperature of 525 degrees C.

Anonymous Authentication with Shared Secrets

Anonymity and authenticity are both important yet often conflicting security goals in a wide range of applications. On the one hand for many applications (say for access control) it is crucial to be able to verify the identity of a given legitimate party (a.k.a. entity authentication). Alternatively an application might require that no one but a party can communicate on its behalf (a.k.a. message authentication). Yet, on the other hand privacy concerns also dictate that anonymity of a legitimate party should be preserved; that is no information concerning the identity of parties should be leaked to an outside entity eavesdropping on the communication. This conflict becomes even more acute when considering anonymity with respect to an active entity that may attempt to impersonate other parties in the system. In this work we resolve this conflict in two steps. First we formalize what it means for a system to provide both authenticity and anonymity even in the presence of an active man-in-the-middle adversary for various specific applications such as message and entity authentication using the constructive cryptography framework of Mau11, MR11]. Our approach inherits the composability statement of constructive cryptography and can therefore be directly used in any higher-level context. Next we demonstrate several simple protocols for realizing these systems, at times relying on a new type of (probabilistic) Message Authentication Code (MAC) called key indistinguishable (KI) MACs. Similar to the key hiding encryption schemes of BBDP01] they guarantee that tags leak no discernible information about the keys used to generate them.

Direct numerical test of the B-G-K model equation by the DSMC method

In the present paper the rarefied gas how caused by the sudden change of the wall temperature and the Rayleigh problem are simulated by the DSMC method which has been validated by experiments both in global flour field and velocity distribution function level. The comparison of the simulated results with the accurate numerical solutions of the B-G-K model equation shows that near equilibrium the BG-K equation with corrected collision frequency can give accurate result but as farther away from equilibrium the B-G-K equation is not accurate. This is for the first time that the error caused by the B-G-K model equation has been revealed.

Size Effect and Geometrical Effect of Polycrystals and Thin Film/Substrate System in Micro-indentation Test

Micro-indentation test at scales on the order of sub-micron has shown that the measured hardness increases strongly with decreasing indent depth or indent size, which is frequently referred to as the size effect. Simultaneously, at micron or sub-micron scale, the material microstructure size also has an important influence on the measured hardness. This kind of effect, such as the crystal grain size effect, thin film thickness effect, etc., is called the geometrical effect by here. In the present research, in order to investigate the size effect and the geometrical effect, the micro-indentation experiments are carried out respectively for single crystal copper and aluminum, for polycrystal aluminum, as well as for a thin film/substrate system, Ti/Si3N4. The size effect and geometrical effect are displayed experimentally. Moreover, using strain gradient plasticity theory, the size effect and the geometrical effect are simulated. Through comparing experimental results with simulation results, length-scale parameter appearing in the strain gradient theory for different cases is predicted. Furthermore, the size effect and the geometrical effect are interpreted using the geometrically necessary dislocation concept and the discrete dislocation theory. Member Price: $0; Non-Member Price: $25.00

Theory and Application of the Transient Injection Well Test

Based on the theory of the pumping well test, the transient injection well test was suggested in this paper. The design method and the scope of application are discussed in detail. The mathematical models are developed for the short-time and long-time transient injection test respectively. A double logarithm type curve matching method was introduced for analyzing the field transient injection test data. A set of methods for the transient injection test design, experiment performance and data analysis were established. Some field tests were analyzed, and the results show that the test model and method are suitable for the transient injection test and can be used to deal with the real engineering problems.

Diagnóstico comparativo de mastitis en leche bovina, por tres pruebas de campo: california mastitis test (CMT), acidez (NaOH), y reductasa, en los municipios de la Concordia, San Rafael del Norte y San Sebastián de Yali, Jinotega

Con el propósito de evaluar tres técnicas para la determinación de Mastitis, (California Mastitis Test (CMT), Hidróxido de Sodio (NaHO) y Azul de Metíleno (AM)), en vacas de doble propósito, en 2000 se efectuó un estudio en los municipios de La Concordia, San Rafael de Norte y San Sebastián de Yalí, del Departamento de Jinotega. Se utilizaron Fincas de Referencia atendidas por el entonces Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería (MAG), de las cuales se seleccionaron catorce (14) fincas privadas y dos Cooperativas, para un total de 16 fincas que representaron el 53.3 % del total de fincas. De éstas se muestrearon 398 vacas en producción de diversas razas (Pardo suizo, Brahman y cruces entre Pardo suizo, Criollo y Holstein con Cebú y otros) de diversas lactaciones (número parto}. Las muestras de cada cuarto de la vaca, se tomaron a la hora del ordeño, entre 5:00 y 7:00a.m. Los resultados de CMT e NaHO, (+ ó -), se anotaron en campo al momento de prueba. En la prueba de AM, se hicieron 4 lecturas: 1) al momento de prueba, 2) a los 15 minutos, 3) a una hora y, 4) a tres horas después de la prueba. Se obtuvo un total de 396 datos de 4 cuartos en cada técnica, para un total de 4,752 observaciones. La información se analizó mediante una prueba de Chí Cuadrado, con el Procedimiento CATMOD, del Statistical Análisis System (SAS), Versión para PC 6.03, NC. Las variables de clasificación en el análisis fueron Razas (1-3), Números de Parto (1-6) y Meses de lactación (1-9). De las técnicas, se obtuvo el 46.2, 4.6 y 15.3 % de pruebas positivas con CMT, NaOH y AM, respectivamente; la CMT resultó más efectiva en la determinación de mastitis. De las Razas estudiadas, el Brahmán presentó un 45.2% de afectación por mastitis, mayor que Pardo suizo y cruces indefinidos, con 30.6 y 24.2 %, respectivamente. A partir del tercer parto, se incrementa el nivel de infestación de esta enfermedad, y durante la lactación, en los meses 4, 5,8 y 9.

Nonuniformity Effect of Surface-Nanocrystalline Materials in Nanoindentation Test

In the present research, microstructures of the surface-nanocrystalline Al alloy material are observed and measured based on the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique, and the corresponding mechanical behaviors are investigated experimentally and theoretically. In the experimental research, the nanoindentation test method is used, and the load and microhardness curves are measured, which strongly depend on the grain size and grain size nonuniformity. Two kinds of the nanoindentation test methods are adopted: the randomly selected loading point method and the continuous stiffness method. In the theoretical modeling, based on the microstructure characteristics of the surface-nanocrystalline Al alloy material, a dislocation pile-up model considering the grain size effect and based on the Mott theory is presented and used. The hardness-indent depth curves are predicted and modeled.

Assessment of Microscale Test Methods of Peeling and Splitting along Surface of Thin-Film/Substrates

Peel test methods are assessed through being applied to a peeling analysis of the ductile film/ceramic substrate system. Through computing the fracture work of the system using the either beam bend model (BB model) or the general plane analysis model (GPA model), surprisingly, a big difference between both model results is found. Although the BB model can capture the plastic dissipation phenomenon for the ductile film case as the GPA model can, it is much sensitive to the choice of the peeling criterion parameters, and it overestimates the plastic bending effect unable to capture crack tip constraint plasticity. In view of the difficulty of measuring interfacial toughness using peel test method when film is the ductile material, a new test method, split test, is recommended and analyzed using the GPA model. The prediction is applied to a wedge-loaded experiment for Al-alloy double-cantilever beam in literature.

Deformation and Failure of Polymer Bonded Explosives under Diametric Compression Test

The tensile deformation and failure of polymer bonded explosives (PBXs), a particulate composite, is studied in this paper. Two HMX-based PBXs with different binder were selected for study. A diametric compression test, in which a disc-shaped specimen is loaded diametrically, was chosen to generate tensile failure in the materials. The quasi-static tensile properties and the tensile creep properties were studied by using conventional displacement transducers to measure the lateral strain along the horizontal diameter. The whole-field in-plane creep deformation was measured by using the technique of high resolution moire´ interferometry. Real time microscopic examination was conducted to monitor the process of deformation and failure of PBXs by using a scanning electron microscope equipped with a loading stage. A manifold method (MM) was used to simulate the deformation and failure of PBX samples under the diametric compression test, including the crack initiation, crack propagation and final cleavage fracture. The mechanisms of deformation and failure of PBXs under diametric compression were analyzed. The diametric compression test and the techniques developed in this research have proven to be applicable to the study of tensile properties of PBXs.